Two things historical fiction readers love: historical dramas brought to television,
usually by the BBC,
and series of books featuring the same characters and settings. In honor of
Masterpiece Theater’s
new fall historical series Home Fires, which highlights the women of one small
village and their
work to further the war effort in the opening days of World War II, we’ll look at three
authors who have
created series that also focus on Home Front England during war.

THERE’LL BE BLUE SKIES by Ellie Dean

Ellie Dean pens the Beach View Boarding House series, currently up to Book Eight.
The on-
going setting and characters for this series are the South Coast seaside village of
Cliffehaven and the
boarding house run by warm-hearted Peggy Reilly and her family.

In Book 1, THERE’LL
BE BLUE
SKIES, sixteen-year-old Sally is evacuated from London’s East End with her crippled
six-year old
brother, Ernie. Frightened of what lies ahead, but knowing she must be brave and take
care of her
brother—a normal state of affairs, as their good-time-girl mother Florrie often leaves
them on their
own--Sally is relieved by the warm welcome given to them by the Reilly family. When she
finds work
to support them and pay for her brother’s expensive medicine, it seems life has improved
—until
Florrie shows up, forcing Sally into a difficult decision.

ACROSS THE MERSEY by Annie Groves

In Annie Groves’s five-book Campion Family series, the scene shifts to wartime Liverpool,
and the
characters are the siblings, children, cousins, friends and sweethearts of twin sisters
who grow up to
live very different lives.

The series begins with ACROSS THE MERSEY. Snobbish, wealthy Vi and her councilor husband
reside in the posher side of town north of the Mersey; friendly, open Jean and her
working-class
spouse live in the more modest area south of the river. But as war breaks out, both
sisters must face
agonizing decisions about whether to allow older children to enlist, or send younger
ones into the
country to safety. With all the traditional certainties of life upended, their younger
sister Francine
turns up unexpectedly, stirring up the past and creating even more havoc in their lives.

LAVENDER ROAD by Helen Carey

Helen Carey sets her three-book Lavender Road series in London itself. Inspired by
the author’s
moving into an area of London in which there were several grand houses, but also newer,
modest
working class homes that obviously had been rebuilt after bombing losses, she envisioned
a street
that would contain a pub, shops, rows of working-class homes and two grand mansions, and
imagined the stories of the people who would dwell there.

In LAVENDER
ROAD, the
coming of war intensifies the struggles of Joyce Carter to put food on the table, while
her rebellious
daughter Jen wants only to become an actress, or engage in trysts with her wild
boyfriend Sean. Pub
owner’s asthmatic daughter Katy Parsons hopes the war will prod her parents into letting
her train as
a nurse, and her rich neighbor’s naïve daughter, Louise Rutherford, sees the war as
grand and
romantic. Another neighbor struggles to resist her attraction to her handsome Irish
boarder as her
husband tries to cope with being declared unfit to serve.

The two succeeding volumes that follow the loves, struggles, triumphs and tragedies
of
the
inhabitants of Lavender Road are:

If you’ve become enthralled by the sights, sounds and stories of the embattled World War
II British
home front with PBS’s Home Fires, be reassured that there are several book series
that will
allow you to continue dwelling there. (And for those who’d like to continue a video
immersion in that
world, check out the excellent seven-part series Foyle’s War, starring the
brilliant Michael
Kitchen.)

After twelve years as a vagabond Navy wife, an adventure that took her from Virginia
Beach, VA, to
Monterrey, CA, to Tunis, Tunisia to Oslo, Norway and back, Julia Justiss followed
her
husband to his family's East Texas homeland. On a hill above a pond with a view of
pasture land, they
built an English Georgian-style home. Sitting at her desk there, if she ignores the
summer heat, she
can almost imagine herself in Jane Austen's Regency England.

In between teaching high school French and making jaunts to visit her three children (a
Seabee in
Gulfport, MS, a clothing buyer in Houston and a mechanical engineer in Austin, TX) she
pursues her
first love—writing historical fiction.

Dominic Ransleigh lost more than his arm in battle—he lost his reason for living.
Returning to his
family seat, he shuns all society. If only his beautiful, plainspoken tenant, Theodora
Branwell, wasn't
so hard to ignore-

Since her fiancé's death on the battlefield, Theo's devoted herself to caring for
soldiers' orphans.
She's powerfully attracted to Dom, but knows all too well the consequences of
temptation. Is Theo,
who's survived so much, brave enough to reveal her secret to her handsome, wounded
neighbor?

Comments

All of these books sound good. I love reading Historical fiction from this time period, and having them take place from across the pond is an added plus!! Thank you for coming here today and letting us know about these books!! I've put them on my TBR list.(Peggy Roberson 3:08pm October 17, 2015)

Hey admin! Well, as you discus about love so many couples close by it before they do not understand what my partner wants to me. And lots of sites are presenting what guides by Video Production | Vid Wonders. So each guy has opportunity for covering their life otherwise he/she lost their life partner.(Alex Sam 6:49am March 31, 2016)

Hey administrator! All things considered, as you plate about adoration such a large number of couples near to it before they don't comprehend what my accomplice needs to me. Furthermore, bunches of locales are showing what guides by Video Production | Vid Wonders. So every person has open door for covering their life else he/she lost their life accomplice.(Alex Sam 6:53am March 31, 2016)